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Jansen excited for first action since heart trouble

Jansen excited for first action since heart trouble

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WASHINGTON -- Before severe rain and wind forced the postponement of Tuesday's series opener with the Nationals, Kenley Jansen was set to return to the Dodgers' bullpen.

With a doubleheader on Wednesday at Nationals Park, the Dodgers' closer was available for his first action since Aug. 27, when the 24-year-old right-hander experienced an irregular heartbeat during a game in Colorado. Because it was the second such instance for Jansen over the past two years, doctors have decided on offseason surgery to correct the issue.

"I'm just excited," Jansen said of his return. "It's a pennant race going on right now, so that brings the excitement. I just want to get out there and have fun again."

Although Jansen has 25 saves and a 2.54 ERA as the Dodgers' closer, manager Don Mattingly said on Wednesday that he would like to hold off on using Jansen in critical late-game situations.

"I'd like to be able to get him into a situation where it wasn't total game on the line," Mattingly said. "But it was hard not to use him in the way you really want to use him, because wherever you put him in, it's probably going to be game on the line.

"I'd like to be able to kind of softly bring him back into the fold, you know, but it's just not that time of year."

While Jansen was out, Brandon League notched two saves and Ronald Belisario recorded one. All together, the Dodgers' bullpen entered Wednesday ranked sixth in the NL with a 3.27 ERA.